Get It Scrapped Blog » Digital Scrapbooking

4 Ways to Use Repeated Photos on Your Scrapbook Pages

askings03 — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 08:00:10 +0000

As the mother of three, I feel like I am constantly repeating myself. I repeat myself because I want to strengthen my message in hopes that one day the life lessons that I am trying to convey will sink in. Just like in parenting, repetition is a design tool that brings strength as well as cohesiveness to a scrapbook page. It allows the eye to travel seamlessly across the page and to look at the page as one unit. Repetition can be achieved in a number of ways including repetition of colors, elements, and photo size.

I have discovered that one of my favorite scrapbooking techniques is repetition of a photo. Yes, I mean using the same photo on a page more than once. People may wonder why someone would put the same photo on the page more than once when there never seems to be a shortage of photographs. I would like to show you some examples of how repetition of a photo can help strengthen your scrapbook page.

1) Creating a backdrop

One of the fundamental aspects of scrapbooking is finding a background paper that will compliment your photos. If I have a photo that I love, I will often use the photo itself as my background. I love to use blending as a way of giving the same photo a different look. On “My Guys”, I duplicated my favorite photo of this sweet sequence between my husband and son. Then I blended the duplicate photo into the background and changed the blending mode to give it a soft and unique feel.

“You Have My Heart” is another example of creating a backdrop with the photo itself. Using a softer image behind the actual photo allows the image to “pop” right off of the page.

“Hug” is another example of this technique. I took the photo of my children from the top of a huge hill. I wanted to recreate how tiny they looked from the top of the hill but also wanted to see the details of this sweet transaction between the two of them. I duplicated the photo and made the duplicate image very large. I blended it into the background for a soft scene.

2) Creating Movement

As a mom, I would say that movement is very much a part of our day. I have discovered that if I repeat a photo numerous times, I can give the photo a sense of “movement”. On “Dance” I wanted to show my daughter jumping during her dance recital. I duplicated the photo several times and positioned them across the page. I was able to make the one image standout from the rest by keeping it in full color, softening the duplicate images and then adding brushwork around her feet. I used the repetition of the softer images to convey her motion. I think this is such a fun technique to use.

3) Emphasizing a portion of your photo

When I use a photo more than once on a page, I don’t always use the whole photo. I will duplicate a portion of the photo to emphasize my favorite aspect. On “One Person”, my favorite portion of the photo was having my daughter and her grandfather’s feet side by side as they strolled down the street. Once again, I duplicated the photo and used a blending mode to soften the background image of their feet. I then positioned the blended image at the top of the page to emphasize their feet. I think the repetition of the photo create a soft and yet powerful page.

My favorite aspect of the photo that I used in “You Have My Heart” is my son’s eyes. Once I duplicated the photo and changed the blending modes, I really zoomed in on the duplicate image to emphasize my son’s eyes.

4) Setting the Mood

When I am working on a page, I immediately start thinking about what kind of mood I want the page to convey. On “Little Attitude”, I wanted this layout of my dear friend’s beautiful daughter to convey a sense of drama. When I started working with this photo, I made the photo appear like a sketch. I started altering the color opacity of the photo and honestly I couldn’t quite decide which one I liked best. I decided to use all three variations of this photo. These variations give the page some attitude and reinforce that her sweet, little attitude was reoccurring.

As seen in Somerset Digital Studios Spring 2011 issue

Photoshop is such an incredible tool. Each image that we use provides an abundance of possibilities that are waiting for us to explore. I have discovered that using a single photo in various ways can create a unique and powerful scrapbook page. I challenge you to give it a try. Find a photo that you love and try manipulating that photo in different ways utilizing some of the incredible tools that are available through your software. I would love to see what you come up with.

Amp up your own digital photo art with the advanced blending, sequencing and motion techniques taught in Jana’s new class Creative Composites! This live workshop builds on the techniques shared in Jana’s core class Blending and Beyond and begins Jan. 9th at Creative Passion Classes–don’t miss out!

Jana Morton teaches digital art classes at Creative Passion. She is on the Creative Team at Designer Digitals. Jana has also been a spotlight artist for Somerset Digital Studios and been published in Creating Keepsakes and Somerset Memories. You can find out more about Jana on her blog janamorton.blogspot.com.

Organize Your December Album by Theme This Year

Debbie Hodge — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 23:07:32 +0000

by Anna Aspnes

We now have the freedom to take as many photos as we like, and probably more than we need, especially during the holidays when we tend to overindulge in capturing the magic of the season.
The task of choosing photos for any project can quickly become overwhelming without a system in place for anticipating, assessing, organizing, selecting and managing your holiday photos.

an alternative to daily December scrapbooking

I struggle to keep up with any sort of daily scrapbooking project but like the idea of capturing moments when inspiration strikes. This year I will be doing a simple holiday album which is less chronological than a “December Daily” approach and showcases my holiday photos grouped by theme as opposed to date. I anticipate this fresh approach will allow me to capture our memories and keep my interest throughout the season so I not only complete a meaningful project, but also have fun doing it.

With the help of Katrina Kennedy’s Capture Your Holidays Through the Lens workshop, I’m banking on taking better holiday photos and intend to showcase them sprinkled with all my favorite holiday memories for 2011 using a collection of templates, The Holiday Album No. 1.

Katrina Kennedy scrapbooked "the lights" of her Christmas with one of the templates from Anna's "The Holiday Album No 1."

The tags on each template suggest an aspect (or theme) of the holiday to scrapbook, including: the lights, the food, festivities, preparations, details, gifts, and people. You can add your own topics, too. Read on for my tips for taking, organizing and choosing the photos to scrapbook this December.

Tips for choosing the holiday photos to scrapbook

1. Anticipate

If you know you’re going to be doing a holiday project, then anticipate and plan ahead for the holiday activities, events, moments, and scenes that you want to capture. Make a list and have this on hand to keep you focused on your photography goals this holiday season. Use the title prompts in The Holiday Album to help you formulate your list.

2. Assess

Download your photos often and look at those photos one by one so that you can see exactly what photos you’ve taken. This allows you to keep track and plan for those shots that you’re missing. It also breaks down the task of going through the photos all at once at the end of the season. I like to use my Windows Picture and Fax Viewer to view my photos and I usually run through any given batch of photos a number of times to be able to give them the attention they deserve.

3. Organize

I use a folder system on my computer to begin grouping and organizing my photos. Create a new folder in convenient location on your hard drive and create 10 or more subfolders within that folder. I will name mine *Holiday album 2011* and rename the subfolders using the title prompts on each page of the The Holiday Album. You can also come up with your own list. Each subfolder co-ordinates with a double page spread in the album and will help me categorize and house my photos according to theme until I’m ready to populate the templates. You may also consider creating 2 more subfolders within these subfolders to accommodate the photos for each side of the double page spread.

4. Select

I copy my favorite images into these subfolders according to theme. It’s important to use a copy of any given image and leave the original photo your library of photos for safe keeping. The criteria used to select an image will depend on your personal preference. What constitutes a favorite or meaningful photo is completely in the eye of the beholder.

I personally like to ask myself the following question as I assess each image: a great quote by Julian Barnes:

Does it interest the eye, excite the brain, move the mind to reflection, and involve the heart?

These words always lead me to selecting the most meaningful photos for my pages.

Life gets a little crazy during the holidays and a little forward planning in your life can go a long way in making the holidays less stressful and more enjoyable. The same is true for your scrapbooking. Don’t let some of the best moments and interactions of the year pass you by. This time of year signals the end of a year, regardless of whether you even celebrate a Holiday. How you spend this time, the reflections you make, the relationships and interactions you have with the ones you love, are all core to this sport we call scrapbooking.

This is absolutely an opportunity not to be missed.

Transforming Photos into Digital Art

Debbie Hodge — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 20:23:32 +0000

by Jana Morton

Taking photos can transform the way you see the world, spurring you to notice little details that might otherwise go unnoticed. Creating art from those photos is a way to express the feelings these photos evoke – and to communicate those feelings to others.

All designs in this article are by Jana Morton and use supplies from DesignerDigitals.com.
Check out Jana’s gallery for details.

I discovered this in my quest to figure out how to scrapbook certain photos—photos that that I was hesitant to scrapbook because I loved them so much, I was worried about whether I could make a page that captured their essence, a page that was original and evocative enough to convey what I was feeling.

Using Photoshop, I found my way to scrapbooking the photos that deeply move me. Here are 3 ways for approaching the process of making digital art from a photo.

Highlight a moment

Some of my favorite pages take ordinary moments and make them extraordinary in their rendering. “One Person” and “Stop Time” are examples of this kind of page.

Try this:

Give a single photo center stage.
Create a background scene using digital papers, brushwork and blending.
Use blending to give the piece a “softer” feel – and thus emphasize the photo even more.

Combine photos in one seamless image

Bringing photos together in this manner can allow you to really capture the emotion of the photos themselves. What’s more, the photos combined this way tell a more complete story of a particular moment. “Write It” and “Cousins” are examples of this approach.

Make wall art

I originally used my photos on scrapbook pages or in simple frames around the house. As my proficiency with digital techniques has evolved, I’ve begun creating digital art that can be found in my home as well as the homes of my loved ones. As I looked at pieces of art on the walls of doctor’s office, the bank, the school, I realized my preference was to create art for my home from photos of the people and places I love. These are my absolute favorite types of gifts to give.

Yes these are scrapbook pages, but they are also digital art. Blending and digital backgrounds let me make settings that allow the photos to shine. You, too, can breathe new life into your photos using the tools in Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS.

I encourage you to look at your own photos once again and find the art that is in your life. I guarantee it is there.

Jana Morton teaches digital art classes at Creative Passion. She is on the Creative Team at Designer Digitals. Jana has also been a spotlight artist for Somerset Digital Studios and been published in Creating Keepsakes and Somerset Memories. You can find out more about Jana on her blog janamorton.blogspot.com.

Basic supplies for digital scrapbooking

Debbie Hodge — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:42:32 +0000

These are the basic supplies you’ll use to make a digital scrapbook page.

1. Digital scrapbooking software

To make a digital scrapbook page you will need software for combining your photos and journaling with digital scrapbooking elements. The most widely used programs for digital scrapbooking are Adobe’s Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS. The free tutorials and online classes here at Get It Scrapped are all written to work with either of these Adobe products.

There are, however, other options and Steph at The Daily Digi has put together this helpful guide for choosing digital scrapbooking software.

2. Digital elements for scrapbooking

You can find the digital equivalent of almost any paper supply in digital scrapbook supply stores. The very basic supplies would include cardstock, patterned paper, alphabets (for titles), embellishments, and a font for journaling.

Use cardstock for page canvas, photo mats, “punched” elements. These are sold as 12″ x 12″ 300 ppi resolution digital elements.

Use patterned paper for page canvas, foundations, and embellishing. These are sold as 12″ x 12″ 300 ppi resolution digital elements.

Use alphabets for titles and even embellishing. These come in many forms, most replicating paper scrapbook page looks like chipboard, stamping, sticker, and acrylic.

Use embellishments for those extra touches. There is a huge assortment of digital embellishments available including fibers, buttons, metals, stickers, and much much more.

As you progress, you’ll start using digital brushes and overlays to get new effects that digital scrapbooking makes possible.

Here’s a look at an example of each of the basic products listed above — all of which I used on “Proof” shown here. I did use more supplies than these (and you’ll find them linked up if you click on the layout image) but these are the basics with which I could make an entire layout–with the addition of a font for including journaling.

Noemi Solids Cardstock by Maplebrook Studios; Awakening Paper Collection by Ali Edwards; Grunged Up Alpha No 2 by Katie Pertiet, Lil Metal Charms Numbered No 1 by Katie Pertiet

“Proof” by Debbie Hodge

3. Scrapbook page templates

Scrapbook page templates are digital files that have laid out where your paper and photos (and often title and journaling) will go. They make it easy to drag photos and papers onto your canvas. You can then “clip” the product to the template elements for a quickly-made and well-designed page. I made this page with Pattie Knox’s “Speedbyte #114.”

Notice I rotated and flipped the template to get the orientation I wanted for my photos. Using templates is probably the quickest and easiest way to get started digital scrapbooking–Pattie Knox has created a self-paced online class on this topic. It includes 6 of her templates that you can access immediately.

Speedbyte #114 by Pattie Knox. “Riding the magic carpet at Disney in the rain” by Debbie Hodge.

4. A way to print your pages

You can print your pages on your own printer or with a service. Many people like to make bound books from processing services.

These three articles at The Daily Digi provide a comprehensive look at the options.

Printing digital scrapbook pages

Review of layout printing services

Review of photobook printing services

How to get laser cut photo effects for hybrid and digital scrapbook pages

askings03 — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:34:06 +0000

by Paula Gilarde

Digital photo masks come in a variety of shapes and sizes and you can use them to get cool effects on your photos. You can then use these altered photos on digital or hybrid/paper layouts.

To get the look on the photo above, I used one of Katie Pertiet’s Blocked Out Photo Mats #1 — it gives the effect of having the words laser-cut from the photo. I made the background blue so the letters would show.

Now I’ll show you how to use these masks on a scrapbook page.

digital photo mask: Blocked Out Photo Mats #5 by Katie Pertiet

1. Create a canvas in Photoshop equal to the size of the photo you want to print

Create a new 4″x6″, 300dpi canvas in Photoshop/Photoshop Elements. You can set your background to whatever color you want to show through your photo mask. Here, I left mine white because I was placing these photos on white cardstock.

2. Drag and place masks on your canvas

Drag your photo mask/photo block onto your canvas and resize it as you like. On my layout, I resized each to be 6 inches high. (I’m going to be printing a 4″x6″ photo that contains TWO of these masks with photos clipped to them.)

3. Drag your photos to the same canvas.

Drag your photos onto the canvas. Be each one sits on the layer above the mask to which you’d like it clipped. Position and resize as desired.

4. Create a clipping mask:

In Photoshop, select the photo layer and press Ctrl-Alt-G (or go to the layer menu and select “Create Clipping Mask”).
In Photoshop Elements, select the photo layer and press Ctrl-G.
On a mac replace Ctrl with Cmd.

5. Repeat, print, trim and mount

Repeat for other photo mat/masks that you are using. Print your photos, trim them, and then use on a scrapbook page.

Paula Gilarde is an equal opportunities scrapbooker, spending most of her free time creating paper, digital or hybrid scrapbook layouts. She is on the creative team at Designer Digitals and Jillibean Soup and has been published in all the major scrapbook industry magazines. You can find out more about her and purchase her introductory digital scrapbooking class at her website: http://paulagilarde.com

The Secret to Creating Circular Text in Photoshop Elements

askings03 — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 11:00:30 +0000

By Pattie Knox

Wrapping your words around or inside of a design element can pack a powerful punch when used in your digital art journaling. Unfortunately, while newer versions of Photoshop contain text on a path capability, versions prior to PSCS and all versions of Photoshop Elements are lacking this feature. There IS a way that you can create text circles if you know about the secret weapon hidden in the Polar Coordinates feature however!

(NOTE: Circular text created with this method will be one-half the size of the canvas you begin working with. For example, if your goal is a 3 inch circle … you’ll want to start out with a 6 inch by 6 inch canvas.)

1. From the File menu, point to New, and select Blank File.

2. Enter the following values:

Width: 6 inches
Height: 6 inches
Resolution: 300 pixels/inch
Color Mode: RGB Color
Background Contents: Transparent

3. From the View menu, select Grid to activate the grid. This will help you determine the exact vertical center of the canvas … which is where you want to type the line of text.

4. From the Toolbox, select the Text tool. Choose a font and set the font size.

5. Type a line of text that fits snugly against the left and right side of the canvas as shown in the illustration below.

Press CTRL+T (CMD+T) to access the Free Transform tool and stretch the text to meet the edges if necessary.

6. From the Image menu, point to Rotate and select Layer 180. This ensures that the text on the top of the circle will be right-side up when created.

To keep the text from stretching out of shape when formed into a circle we need to adjust the height of the letters.

7. Press CTRL+T (CMD+T) to access the Free Transform tool and look to the Options bar at the top of the screen.

To prevent the width from changing along with the height, uncheck the box next to Constrain Proportions and enter a value of 250% for Height. (Width should stay at 100%)

8. Working in the Layers panel (palette), right click the text layer and choose Simplify Layer from the pop up menu.

This prevents you from editing the contents of the text layer, but is necessary as PSE will not allow you to apply a filter to a text layer otherwise.

9. From the Filter menu, point to Distort and select Polar Coordinates.

10. Check Rectangular to Polar in the dialog box that appears and click OK to commit the change.

Presto! You have a circular element formed from text.

Pattie Knox shares her combined love of digital design and teaching others through her series of online digital classes at Creative Passion Classes. She also designs digital products for Designer Digitals and is a member of the Wacom Penscrappers Team. To learn more about her you can visit Pattie’s blog.

Ideas for memorabilia to scrapbook + scanning how-to

askings03 — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 11:00:31 +0000

By Pattie Knox

As memory keepers we recognize that photos only tell part of the story. We fill our own cardboard boxes, knowing that this memorabilia contains the missing pieces in the tale of our lives. My own two children are now in their twenties. I have folders and boxes scattered throughout my house containing art work, report cards, sporting awards, greeting cards, etc. With the aid of my scanner and digital editing software I’ve embarked upon a mission to bring these treasures out of the box and preserve them before time, light, and air take their toll.

My son wrote this story in 1987 as a First Grader. I scanned in the individual pages and used Photoshop to reduce the resulting scans in size. I changed the blending mode of the artwork layer to “Multiply” and then used Photoshop’s clipping mask feature to combine the drawings with digital papers.

Before we know it another back-to-school season will be upon us, bringing with it more and more reams of papers and assorted items. Do you find that you are loath to dispose of anything, but wonder where to store it all? Consider taming the clutter by adding these treasures to your digital layouts and rest assured that future generations will appreciate your efforts. (And you may just gain a little added closet space in the bargain!)

Tips and Tricks for Adding Memorabilia to Your Layouts

Consider scanning in a sample of your child’s handwriting and creating a custom brush from the scan. Using your “digital stamp” you can create a custom background for your layout in a variety of colors and sizes. Try the same technique with artwork created by your small artist.
For the best results when scanning make sure that you have your scanner set to it’s highest bit readout if the option is available to you. For more in-depth discussion regarding scanners of all makes and models along with tips for successful scans visit http://www.scantips.com/ on the Web.
When you scan a drawing on white paper, the paper often has a grey tint. To turn the grey back to white, adjust the levels using your photo editing software. In Photoshop you can click the white (rightmost) eyedropper on the Levels dialog box. Move the cursor onto your image and click on the grey area. The grey will be converted to pure white automatically.
The translucent nature of newsprint can cause the text on the opposite side of the paper to “ghost” through when scanned. Lay a piece of black paper on top of the clipping before scanning to avoid this problem.
When scanning bulky items which keep the scanner lid from closing tightly, the light seeping in around the edges may create unfavorable results. Prevent this from happening by covering small items with a shoebox lid before scanning. For larger items (such as a book) try covering the entire scanner with a heavy dark cloth or towel.
Avoid scratching the scanner bed glass by laying a clear transparency sheet under items such as buttons, pins, etc. that could damage the glass when the cover is closed.
Scan items such as artwork, certificates, diplomas, etc. at full size and then reduce them with your photo editing software. You’ll be amazed at how many pages you can consolidate into one layout.
If the item is too big and bulky for your scanner (or you don’t own a scanner), take a close up photo to incorporate into your layout.

Suggested Memorabilia

Hospital bracelets, bassinet ID cards, itemized hospital bill
Label from first jar of baby food
Piece of wrapping paper (baptism, birthday’s, Christmas, etc.)
Pair of baby booties
First tooth your child loses
First attempts at writing letters and numbers
Labels and boxes from favorite foods and/or beverages
Kid’s Meal box from favorite fast food restaurant
School art and papers, awards, and certificate
Postcards from places visited
Favorite family recipes
Military records
Newspaper articles
Ticket Stubs
Medals and pins
Emblems of a favorite sport or team
Team rosters from sports or school organizations
Party favors from birthdays
Covers from favorite books
Stamped fingerprints/footprints
Greeting cards and letters
Store receipts showing items purchased and prices
Fabric scans – security blanket, favorite item of clothing, furniture upholstery
CD Covers, IPod playlists, DVD cases

Pattie Knox shares her combined love of digital design and teaching others through her series of online digital classes at Creative Passion Classes. She also designs digital products for Designer Digitals and is a member of the Wacom Penscrappers Team. To learn more about her you can visit Pattie’s blog.

Curiouser and Curiouser: Paper and Digi designers sharing product?

TamiTaylor — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:48:20 +0000

by Tami Taylor

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the King says “Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop.” What fascinates me is how different the end is for everyone.

You could give a group of kindergartners the same three colors of paint and a brush and you would get as many different pieces of art as there are stars in the sky. Seeing the different creations is one of my favorite things about scrapbooking. It’s what I love most about sketches and scrapbook kits. Everyone starts at the same point, but the ends are all unique and exciting.

A few weeks ago I mentioned this idea to Amy Kingsford. She contacted Erin Clayton of ErinInk who immediately jumped on board, agreeing to sponsor this challenge and donating a lovely mini-kit for everyone to play along. The directions the designers were given were simple: ”Here’s product, scrap.”

Each of the designers did some very cool things while staying true to their own style. The neatest aspect of the challenge was seeing product cross the line from digi to paper scrapping. Without further ado, here are the layouts created by Amy Kingsford, Paula Gilarde, Michelle Houghton and myself.

"I Do" by Amy Kingsford

Amy Kingsford is our resident “MacGyver”, I honestly think she leaves nothing unaltered. In one of her more subtle alterations she chose to shade the journaling box. I love how the perfectly laid splashes of color add interest and draw your eye to the center of the layout. (And framing that bit of brown patterned paper was brilliant!)

"Tradition" by Paula Gilarde

Paula Gilarde has a style that makes me giddy. I can’t believe how she can use just a few chosen details and wind up with a simply stunning layout. I love how the tag lies down the side of the food photo with an extra tidbit about the event, it’s perfect.

"Prairie Meadows" by Michelle Houghton

Michelle Houghton is an art teacher. It was no surprise when I got her layout that there is a touch of doodling on it. The surprise was that flower; it looks so real. She told me the secret, she printed it out on photo paper then cut it out, genius! (Don’t tell her I told you her trade secret though.)

"Follow Your Heart" by Tami Taylor

And lastly, my layout. As soon as I received the digi kit I knew the flower, frame and cool patterned paper had to be printed on transparency. Grabbed my scissors; trimmed the flowers, cut the hearts and–bob’s your uncle–slapped the layout together! The fun ‘mistake’ was when I used glossy accents to glue the flower layers together the ink ran a little and gave the layout this neat yellow center.

Now you try.

The kit is amazingly versatile so don’t be shy. When you’re done, please share a link here in the comments, I know we’d all love to see what you do with the great kit ErinInk donated.

Click here for the download.

Erin Clayton has been designing digital scrapbooking under the name ErinINK for almost two years now, featuring designs that she calls “clean with a touch of whimsy.” She specializes in digital templates and Project 365, and wonderfully contemporary papers and elements, that are sure to be the perfect addition to all of your digital and hybrid projects. But don’t take our word for it…check out her shop at Memory Scraps to see for yourself! You can also visit her blog for fabulous freebies, hybrid project tutorials, Photoshop how-tos and photography tips.

Tami Taylor writes for Get It Scrapped!, teaches at Masterful Scrapbook Design and runs the new site for creative classes Creative Passion. She is the mom of a big family. Her favorite escapes are trying new recipes, scrapbooking, and all things TV and cinema. To learn more about Tami check out her blog, The Taylor Life.

Photoshop shadowing how-to: make a photo look curved

Debbie Hodge — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 20:26:39 +0000

by Pattie Knox

Good shadowing techniques are essential for digital scrapbook pages that contain many layers and images. While you want a cool effect, you don’t want it to clash with the way our minds are accustomed to perceiving objects and their shadows. Try this one out right now!

QUICK CURVED PHOTO

You can create the look of a photo that is slightly curved and lifted off its background via a custom drop shadow in a jiffy!

1. Open a new 12 x 12 inch 300 dpi document containing a solid colored fill or background paper and a photo of your choice sized to approximately 5 x 7 inches at 300 dpi.

A white border around the photo really helps make the effect pop on the page.

2. With the photo layer selected, from the Edit menu, choose Stroke (Outline) Selection.

PS USERS: Choose Stroke.

3. In the pop up dialog box set Width to 25 pixels, Color to White, Location to Inside and click OK.

4. With Layer 1 (the photo) selected in the Layers palette, use the Rectangular Marquee tool to drag a border around the photo. (See illustration below)

5. From the Filter menu, point to Distort and choose Shear.

6. Click once in the center of the vertical line and drag very slightly to the right to bend the photo. Click OK.

7. With Layer 1 (the photo) selected in the Layers palette press CTRL (CMD for Mac) and click the New Layer icon in the Layers palette.

8. Rename this layer Photo Shadow.

9. In the Layers palette, press CTRL (CMD for Mac) and click directly on the thumbnail of Layer 1 to create a selection.

10. In the Layers palette, MAKE SURE that the Photo Shadow layer is targeted (highlighted.)

11. From the Edit menu, point to Fill Selection.
(PS users point to Fill)

12. In the pop up menu that appears, set Contents to Black and click OK.

13. Press CTRL-D (CMD-D) to deselect.

14. From the Filters menu, point to Blur, select Gaussian Blur.

15. Drag the Radius slider to set the size of the blur to 6 pixels. Click OK.

We need to flip the shadow layer horizontally now.

16. PSE Users: From the Image menu, point to Rotate, choose Flip Layer Horizontal.

Photoshop Users: From the Edit menu, point to Transform, choose Flip Horizontal.

17. With the Move tool active, use the right arrow key to nudge the Photo Shadow layer to the right until the left edge is almost completely hidden from view.

18. Change the blending mode of the Photo Shadow layer to Multiply and lower the layer Opacity to taste.

Pattie Knox shares her combined love of digital design and teaching others through her series of online digital classes at Creative Passion Classes. She also designs digital products for Designer Digitals and is a member of the Wacom Penscrappers Team. To learn more about her you can visit Pattie’s blog.

5 Ways to Make Your Own Ransom-Alphabet

askings03 — Fri, 28 May 2010 00:04:09 +0000

by Amy Kingsford

Here’s an idea for jazzing up your scrapbook page titles and embellishments.

Ransom Alphas are a fun new trend both in paper and digital scrapbooking worlds. Basically a “Ransom Alpha” is an alphabet that is made up of mismatched letters and fonts. Like this fun font called For the One Hundredth Time available at Free Scrapbooking Fonts.com.

While there are several ready-made products available for purchase or even for free, including everything from fonts to stickers to digital alphas, here are few ideas for designing your very own at home!

1. Use Your Digital Supplies

By combining your favorite fonts and alphas you can create your own digital “Ransom Alpha” to use in your digital los or to print out for hybrid projects, as well.

On “Childhood,” I used a variety of fonts for each letter in the title and placed them on torn strips of varying heights.

2. Use Your Imagination & Your Own Hand

Doodle your own “Ransom Alpha” by hand, either with a pencil and paper or with your graphic tablet.Nothing will be more original than creating your very own doodled Ransom alpha from scratch!

3. Use Your Stash of Acrylic Stamps and Rubber Stamps

Make your own “Ransom Alpha” by combining several of your letter stamps. If you’re using acrylic stamps, you can put several letters from different sets right onto one block.

On “Little Sprout” I used a variety of alpha stamps to create this fun background mat.

4. Use Your Magazines, Junk Mail and Collage Materials

Thumb through your magazines, junk mail, and the other printed materials around your house. Clip letters that jump out at you and sort them for future use on your art journaling pagesand layouts.

5. Use Your Leftover Chipboard and Alpha Stickers

Ever wonder what to do with all of your leftover alpha stickers and chipboard letters…why not combine tem for a “ransom”-look title on your next layout or altered project.

Have fun trying out some of these ideas on your own pages and projects!

Amy Kingsford is a happy wife and blessed mother from Northern Utah. She teaches at Masterful Scrapbook Design, Creative Passion Classes and also shares ideas, inspiration and instruction on creative approaches to modern scrapbooking and papercrafting at her site AmyKingsford.com